Master, Your Salted Fish Has Arrived - Chapter 21
At the Hour of Zi (11 P.M. – 12 A.M.), beneath White Deer Cliff
The meeting place sat at the very edge of White Deer Cliff. One step further in would brush against Sima Jiao’s divine sense—no one dared test that boundary. A little further out grew the enormous Blue Luminous Flower tree, its faint glow marking where White Deer Cliff’s influence ended.
Yuan Shang stood beneath its branches, his expression cold as still water. If Liao Tingyan dared skip this meeting, he would consider discarding her entirely. A dog that couldn’t bite its master’s enemies might one day turn and bite its master.
Footsteps rustled across the ground. The sound came openly, without disguise. Liao Tingyan walked into view, alone.
Yuan Shang stepped from the shadows, voice dripping with mockery. “You’ve kept me waiting. First you ignore my letters, then refuse to meet me once, twice—no word, not even half a message. What is it? Have you found a higher branch to cling to and decided to cut all ties with me?”
What kind of soap-opera dialogue is this? Liao Tingyan thought. It’s exactly like some jilted boyfriend whining that his girlfriend stopped returning his calls. Complaints, sarcasm, late-night confrontations—how incredibly realistic.
Her eyes widened slightly. So this bastard really was the original body’s boyfriend?!
Thinking of the ancestor possibly watching from the shadows, she straightened her posture, hardened her voice, and coldly said, “We’re finished. Don’t come looking for me again.”
Yuan Shang had only intended to sneer at her. He hadn’t expected outright defiance. His expression twisted with fury. “Don’t forget, your life is still in my hands! Tell me, how did the Bone-Eroding Poison feel yesterday? Was it pleasant?”
Liao Tingyan’s anger flared. So it was you! You’re the one who tormented me with that agony, almost killing me. Controlling a woman with poison—what kind of twisted love is this? Was the original host blind to have liked you? Even that murderous ancestor is better than you.
She squared her shoulders. “Trash like you, who can only control others with poison and tricks, deserves to die alone. Threaten me all you like. Who’s afraid of you? Come on, you idiot!”
She might not know how to argue with boyfriends, but she certainly knew how to curse someone out.
Yuan Shang’s face darkened. He raised a small bronze bell and crushed it between his fingers, expecting her to collapse in agony. His lips curved into a cruel smile—only for the moment to stretch in silence.
The only sound was the Blue Luminous Flower tree swaying in the night wind.
Liao Tingyan stood steady, face impassive.
An awkward chill settled.
Yuan Shang’s eyes widened. “Why are you unharmed? Don’t tell me the Bone-Eroding Poison has been neutralized?!”
Liao Tingyan didn’t know the details either, but she had a good guess—it must have been Sima Jiao’s doing. Mentally, she handed the ancestor another good-person card. (Though, honestly, he was the least like a good person of anyone she knew.)
“How could you neutralize the poison… Unless—was it Daoist Lord Cizang?!” Yuan Shang’s gaze grew feverish. “If Sima Jiao did it, that means he knows your identity. And yet he didn’t kill you?!”
What identity? Liao Tingyan panicked inwardly but forced calm onto her face. “My Ancestral Master is brilliant and magnanimous. How could he bother with such small matters?”
Yuan Shang’s expression warped further. “So you really managed to coax him into overlooking your identity. I underestimated you.”
Yeah, yeah, say what you want. Your ex-girlfriend upgraded—die of jealousy, you idiot.
Aloud she said flatly, “This ends here. Don’t provoke me again.”
But Yuan Shang wasn’t finished. His voice dropped, sharp and venomous. “Do you really think following Sima Jiao will protect you forever? The Sect Leader, the other Palace Masters—when they find out what you are, do you think they’ll be merciful? And the Demon Realm—betrayers don’t die easily. You can’t escape me.”
Liao Tingyan sneered. Scumbags really are the same across worlds—schemes, threats, manipulation. Disgusting.
“Obey your instructions?” she shot back. “Obey your head! Go ahead and expose me—what identity do I supposedly have? Say it! Let’s see who believes you.” (Please, actually say it, because even I don’t know!)
Enraged, Yuan Shang brandished the last of the bells. “Even if the poison fails, as long as I hold this, your identity can’t be denied—”
Before he could finish, the bell vanished from his hand and appeared in Liao Tingyan’s.
“…” Yuan Shang froze.
“…” Liao Tingyan stared at the bell in her hand, equally stunned.
Her first instinct had been to snatch it, and she hadn’t expected it to work so easily. Something this important, and he just… held it out like a free sample? Is he an idiot?
Yuan Shang’s eyes nearly bulged. He hadn’t even sensed her movement. Yesterday she had been at Qi Condensation—how could she possibly snatch from a late-stage Yuan Ying cultivator? He probed her cultivation and realized with horror… he couldn’t see through it.
“This… this is Sima Jiao’s doing!” His eyes turned bloodshot with rage. “He went this far for you?!”
His resentment boiled over. Once a genius, Yuan Shang had long since fallen, his cultivation crippled beyond recovery. Watching his “hunting dog” soar above him overnight was humiliation he couldn’t bear.
“You deserve to die!” he roared, summoning a great sword and charging at her.
Liao Tingyan panicked. She might have the level now, but her salted-fish soul hadn’t caught up. Instinctively she threw up her hand to block—
Crash!
Yuan Shang went flying, slamming into the Blue Luminous Flower tree before collapsing to the ground in a heap.
Liao Tingyan blinked at her hand. Wait… was that me? Did I just send him flying? It didn’t even feel like anything…
From the branches above, Sima Jiao pressed his fingers to his temple, exhaling slowly. She really was a fake Nascent Soul cultivator—so weak she couldn’t even beat a Yuan Ying. The idiot who planted her here clearly wasn’t very smart either.
On the ground, Yuan Shang spat blood and glared up at Liao Tingyan. “You think killing me will erase your identity?”
Excuse me? Who attacked first? Who’s killing who here? Please check your script.
Yuan Shang coughed blood again. “To die at your hands… I cannot accept it!”
No one’s killing you, you drama queen.
She rolled her eyes, turned, and walked away. But his ragged voice followed her:
“You betrayed me… because you’ve fallen in love with Sima Jiao? How laughable! A cold-blooded demon like him will kill you sooner or later!”
I’m not! I haven’t! Don’t spread rumors like that!
Liao Tingyan darted nervous glances around. If Sima Jiao overheard this nonsense and misunderstood, how would she explain? She cut him off quickly: “Shut up! Stop spouting trash. With all the chaos in your head, you should see a doctor, take medicine, and rest. Keep this up, and you’ll just die early.”
She bolted.
Yuan Shang spat another mouthful of blood, consumed by rage and disbelief. Why would Sima Jiao, of all people, tolerate this Demon Realm spy? Could it truly be beauty that beguiled him? Impossible. There had to be some secret.
A low voice answered his thoughts:
“Are you of the Yuan family bloodline?”
Yuan Shang froze. From behind the tree, Sima Jiao stepped into view, robed in black, his presence suffocating.
“The clan that once hated the Demon Realm the most… now colluding with it. Ridiculous.”
He stopped before Yuan Shang, raised a single finger, and pressed it to his forehead.
A hurricane of cold power swept through Yuan Shang’s soul, tearing open every corner of his consciousness. Pain wracked his body, his spirit unraveling. Secrets spilled against his will.
Thud.
His body dropped lifelessly to the roots of the Blue Luminous Flower tree, head shattered, blood soaking into the glowing blossoms until their fragrance turned foul.